Autopneumatic music-playing instrument.



No. 869,480. PATENTED 00T. 29, 1907. W. R. CRIPPEN.

AUTOPNEUMATIC MUSIC PLAYING INSTRUMENT. urLIoA'rIol Hmm Ju. 22. 1901.

Egf. f'- 7?/ Q/vibmooeo www koe Playing -a fragment of a perforated note sheet.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER Il. CRIIIEX, Ol CAMBRIDGE,

' MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO EMERSON PIAYO COMPANY, Ol" BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS., A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

AUTOPNEUMATIC MUSIC-PLAYIN G INSTRUMENT.

Application filed January 22| Patented Oct. 29, 1907'. 1907. Serial No. 353.420.,

To all whom it may concern: l

Be it known that .1, Wat'rmi R. CinrPEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, county of ItIiddl'esex, Massachusetts, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements in Autopneuma-tic Music- Instruments, of which the following is a full, l clear, and exact description.

This linvention relates to improvements in autopneuniatic music playing instruments. 4In such instruments it is desirable, in order to secure artistic effects, to provide means whereby in such pieces as demand a solo, said solo effect shall-,be produced. This involves frequently the striking of the solo notes simultaneously with the accompaniment or substantially so. At other times the solo notes are struck alone. By my improved invention'it is immaterial in what partI of the composition the solo note occurs, the same may be Caused to stand out clearly and conspicuously.

My invention also contemplates means whereby the degree of force applied to the solo-note maybe modified and varied relatively to the accompaniment.

In the drawings, Figure l is a section, partly in elevation, of a single key actiou'complete.. Fig. 2 illustrates 1 represents a striking ami ,for a sounding device or key.

2 is what is commonly termed the action pneumatic by the operation of which the note striking arm is moved. In the particular form shown,'t he action pneumatic 2 is connected to the striking ann l through'the mediuln oi' a lever 3, the upper portion ofsaid arm being held by a' link 4. l

' 5 is a controller chest having two separate compartments Cn 5". y.

6 is a tension regulating bellows normally Adistended in any suitable way, for example, by means of a spring 7.

8 is the exhaust, the passage through which communicateswith the compartment 5 of the controller chest 5'aud through it with the interior of the regulating bellows 6.

9 'isa passage leading from the interior of the' action pneumatic 2 to a valve 1 0. -This valve 10 is.located in a passage normally open to the atmosphere and closed to compartment 5b. When thisvalvel is open to atmosphere the power pneumatic will be distended. When, however, this valve is closed to the atmosphere, the passage 9 will be open to the compartment 5l and the` action .pneumatic will be collapsed and the note will be sounded Lwith that degree of force proportional to the degree of vacuum in compartment 5". This degree of tension or'vacunm is regulated by means of the bellows 6, which is in direct communication through passage 5 with compartment 5. It is therel push rod 20 having the offsets 21 21L 2l" 2l,

fore necessary to provide means whereby -this regulating bellows may be so controlled in its action that the v desired degreel of tension will occur in compartment 5b of action pneumatic 2. This is controlled by throttling the passage of air through the regulator 6.

ll is a throttle valve` operated by bellowst and controlling the passage 5. In the particular form shown, when the regulating bellows G is collapsed so that valve l1 will close the passage 5, I provide means for variably distending to thedesired degree the regulating bellows, so that it will open the throttle valve ll. to thedesired extent. This mechanism in its preferred forni is illustrated in the drawings and comprises a push rod 12 suitably connected with the bellows 6, so that when said rod is lifted the bellows will be distended and the throttle .will be opened so as to put compartments 5 and-5b in communication. To operate rod l?. I prov'ide one or more controlled devices 1-1 1l 14b Il", which in the particular form shown are offset from rod l2. These controlled devices are in the form of buttons overstanding what are in effect bellows l5 15115b 15 respectively. Each of these bellows is independent and each is in suitable communication with the tracker board 'IY so as to be controlled by the perforated nnte sheet S.

In Fig'. 1, I have illustrated a preferred form of tracker board T in which the board has a single note opening said opening having three partitions therein. The several partitioned spaces are in communication respectively with tht` bellows l5 l5 15b 15 through ducts 1S 1Sa 18b 18, In note shc'et S are shown several perforations, I7 17`l7b i7". lflach of these perfor-ations is adapted to a single tracker opening,

but, according to its width it determines how many ol `the partitioned spaces will be Open to atmosphere.

When the narrowcst note pcrl'omtiim 17 encounters the partitioned duct, it will admit air lo the bellows l5 and lift the controlled device 14, which will move in a direction to opin the throttle valve ll slightly. At the same. time the valve l() will be operated by means ol' a which are operated by bellows 22 22'* 22" 22 similar to and connected respectively with the spnCc underneath bellows 1.5 15 l5b 15 by passages. These passages :u'c each provided-with suitable small vents or so-called bleed holes to provide uniform tension on both sides of the collapsible portion of all the small bellows under normal conditions. It follows from the above that the moment air is admitted, for example to bellows 15 through thc tracker board, it will also bo admittedl to the bellows 22, so that both push rods 12 and 20 will lift. The former will control the degree of opening of throttle 1l, while the latter will close the valve 10 to the atmosphere and open it to theV vacuum in compartmentl 5, withYthe re- Bult that actionvpneumatic'S2- will be collapsed and the bellows, 15 15", will be operated, with the result that rod 12 will be operated with greater vigor and the throttle valve 11 lvvill open still more, so that the action pneu- Imatic would-'be operated with a correspondingly greater degree of force. Another perforation 17b in the note.

10 sheet may be of suilicient Width to open three of the spaces in the tracker duct, with the result that the ac.

tion pneumatic would be operated with a correspondingly increased force, and so on. 17 is a note sheet perforation of sufficient area to open all of'the spaces in the single tracker duct shown.

Whil I have shown the bellows of the 15 series of the same area relatively, it is obvious that this is not essen` tial, for they might be so proportioned and varied as to individually operate the regulator bellows with a' dif- 20 ferent degree of force, so that by properly cutting the note sheet to` select the proper partitioned space inthe tracker ductany one of the bellows l5 might be selected as the one to operate the push rod 12. Of course Whenever this push rod is operated, whether it be by oneor more of the bellows of the series of 15, the valve 10 is also operated at the same time, as at that'moment it is necessary to put the action pneumatic in communication with the vacuum. Instead of providing the vents or bleed holes, the usual well known primary pneumatics .30 might be substituted between Ithe tracker board and bellows l5. l

I am aware that it is not broadly new to provide means for securing solo effects i'n mechanical music playing instruments, but heretofore in brder'to accomplish this re l llult with a .particular notev or a series of notes that are to be struck at substantially the same time, it has been necessary to either advance or retard the said note in or der to give a sufficient period to enable a difference in tension to be secured. In fact, such a mechanism is 40 -comprchended in my former patent No. 803,153. My

present invention, however, is distinctively different in that the. solo noteand accompaniment notes may be struck at the same instant. So also by this'irnp'rovement it is possible to strike the several notes of a chordl at the same instant, each note beingistruck with a different degree of tension than that 'of any other note. Whereas in form er devices supplemental marginal perL iorations in the tracker board have beenrequred in order to automatically secure the desired change in tenl sion, these are 'entirely unnecessary in the present 5 5- the single equalizer or storage bellows (not shown).4

sheet and the action pneumatic.

instance.

From the foregoing it will bc seen that only a single primary valve (such as valve 10) is required, and that only one wind-way or track may be required leading-to While the notepsheet is ycut with particular reference to determiningthe .tension with which the action pneu `matic is to operate, the particular invention claimed.

the note herein resides 'in the mechanism intermediate p In the drawings I have shownonly one key action, but it should be understood that for each key action the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing may be duplicated so far as it is intended t'o include any .65 keyswhich are to be struck with varying'degrees of force. The consequence is it matters not how many 'of the keys are struck at once, each on'e of the same may be struck with a degree of force different from any other.

What I claim is: 1. In a device of the character described, a trackerboard having ducts therein, an individual key action-pneumatic, a controller-chest therefor, a vacuum chamber therein, an exhaust communicating with said vacuum chinber, a passage from said vacuum chamber to said action-pneumatlc, anauto-pneumatlcally controlled tension governing throttle in saidpassage, meanswithin the vacuum cham ber for opening said throttle, including a plurality of notesheet-controlled pneumatics, a normally closed valve independent of the throttle and in the passage between said throttle and said action-pneumatic, and means for moving said valve to open said passage simultaneously with the said passage and adapted to close said opening` to the atmosphere, and means within the controller-chest to shift said valve to open said passage and close saidopening to the atmospheresimultaneously with the opening of the throttle.

3. In a devlce of the character described, a. tracker" board having ducts therein, akey action pneumatic, a controller chest therefor having a vacuum chember therein, means for creating a vacuum therein, a passage from the vacuum chamber in said chestto said action pneul matic, a throttle for said passage,- means for moving said throttle, and means within the chest controllable from the tracker board for in turn controlling the operation of the vthrottle moving means, the interior of said action pneumatic being also in communicationlwith the atmosphere, and a valve for opening s'aid pneumatic to the atmosphere and closing it to the vacuum chamber and vice versa, and 'means for operatingthe same simultaneously with the operation of the throttle controller means.

4. In a device' of the character described, a tracker board having ducts therein, a key action pneumatic, a controller chest therefor having 'a vacuum`chamber therein, means for creating a vacuum therein, a passage from the vacuum chamber in said chest to said action pneumatic,

a throttle for said passage, meansfor moving said throttle, and means within the chest controllable from the tracker board for in turn controlling the operation of the throttle v moving means, the interior of said action pneumatic being also in communication with the atmosphere, and a valve for opening said pneumatic to the atmosphere and closing lt to the vacuum chamber and viceversa, and means for .operating the same simultaneously with the operation ot -the throttle controller means and operated from the same source. I

5. In an apparatus of the Vcharacter described, means for striking'dllferent note sounding deviceswith different degreesot force and comprising vaction pneumatics, an exhaust for said action pneumatics, a separate controller chest for each pneumatic between said exhaust and the corresponding pneumaticrand having a passage leading to its respective action pneumatic, a throttle therefor, and

6. In an apparatus of the character described, means for striking different note sounding devices with different ldegrees of force and comprising action pneumatica, an exhaust for said action pneumatlcs, a separate controller' chest -for each pneumatic between said 4exhaust and its corresponding pneumatic and-'having a passage leading to its respective action pneumatic, a throttle therefor,

and means' within said controller chest for actuating said scuso action-pneumatic and in communication with both, a tension governing throttle in the passage leading from said controller-chest to said action-pneumatic, an independent valve in the passage between said throttle and said actionpneumatic, means for positively operating said valve to open wide the same, and means tor variably operating the throttle to open the same to different degrees, both valve and throttle operating means being contained within the controller-chest.

.8. ln an apparatus of the character described, an individual key-actionr comprising an `action-pneumatic', an exhaust, a controller-chest between said exhaust and said action-pneumatic and in communication with both. a tension governing throttle in the passage lemiinf.; to the action-pneumatic, and an independent valve in said passage between said throttle and said action-pneumatic. means for positively operating said "alve to open wide the same, and means for variably operating the throttle to open the same to diiiferent degrees, said valve and throttle operating means being both contained within the controller-chest and including a plurality of inelosed pneumatics, a tracker-board, a plurality of ducts in the tracker board in communication with said pneuniaties, a perforated note-sheet arranged to co-act with the pertorations in said trackenboard to directly control the action of the pneumatics within the exhaust chamber, and indirectly control the degree t0 which the tension governing throttle is opened. I

9.` In an apparatus of the character described, an exhaust, a single key action including an action pneumatic, u`partitionedand dividcdcontroller chest, a passage lead ini' from one division in said chest to the other, a throttle therefor, a passage leading from the second division in.

said controller chest to said pneumatic, und a valve there in, and means within said controller .chest for simultaneously opening the valve and for varying the degree of the opening of the throttle.

10. In :in apparatus of the character described, an extlic opening of the throttle, a tracker board and a perforated note sheet `arranged to traverse sad tracker board for controlling the same.

n v WALTER R. CRlPPEN.

Witnesses:

A. D. I'IURD, C. H. AMES. 

